Automatic coupling, decoupling, and adjusting hitch



March 9, 1948. F, R. HAWKINS AUTOMATIC COUPLING, DEE-COUPLING, AND ADJUSTING HITCH Filed Feb. 4, 1946 close. to parallel. with.

Patented Mar. 9, 1948 so STATES ,..-enrear osmos- AUTOMATIC: GOUPLING', DEGOUBLING AND.-

HITCH FredR. Hawkins; Waterford; Calif-i 7 Application February: 4, 1946, \SeriaLNoi 645,290 3.G1ai'ms.. (01:55-83) in entiongani automatic-1 coupling dee coupling and adjusting hitch, is primarily designedtior convenient and: efiieient "operation 015-. dish. barrows in that: through, its, use the gangs can be adjusted to any desired angle simply. through backing. and advance movements. oiithe tractiverde ice. such as atractor. N oimanual con; trols,, such. as, rones,--cables-,. fluid. lines: are re-- quired, because: the coupling device; automaticallycoupledn decoupled and. adjusted: through. simple forward andreversemovementst In. turn-- ing inthe direction of the pivotal connection. be? tweenthe gangstthe gangs maintaintheir angular relationiwith thewrear gang following the front ang, in its adjusteclangular relation,- while in turning intheoppositedirection.the. gangs, will tractors and...as scones the. tractor. starts. ona straight-away the. gangs, will open'angularly. to their maximum angular relationship At anytime the adjustment can be altered byfirst backmg the tractor then moving. forward. slightly ahead of the desired;adi-ustmentandi thenback. ing slightly which sequentially decouplesthe. en. gaging means or. hitch, adjuststhe-h-itch and then couples it in the adjusted position... Thus. the hitch is automatic in .allirespeots even to that; of automaticallyclosing and opening for aturn away from the pivotal'connection .betweenthe gangs.

Many difierent conditions. may. be. encountered; when disking a. fie1d,..which..may readily include.- high and relatively dry ground. low and. wet tomudd'y, scrub, brush and stubble .When thereis. any appreciable variationin the. soil such as passing from loam to clay; or hardpam or frommoist to muddy, .or fromclear. ground ,to stubble. brush or weeds, the angular relationof the gangs: must be changed to suitthe conditions or. toclear hath. gangs fol-lowing the.

"" coupling meansis selfeclea'ning and has no-remote controlmeanspscr thatthe. operator has nothing to do except-manipulate the. tractor;

for warehouseuse; for skipsaround' mine workings; and for oth-er'purposes where it is desirable to' merelycoupleontoa vehicle; moveit to some:

7 predetermined point; andthen' uncouple; with only backingan'd advance movements of'the tractivedeviceheme;required;

The objects and aclvantages of the inventionare follows? First, to providwan automatic-coupling, de-

coupling and adjustingdevice for disk barrowsandthe like; andwhich imperative-solely through relative movements of the-coupling elements.

Seeond,'-to-provide; a deviceas outlined which can be: uncoupled; coupled; or adjusted as to lengthofcoupling' -through; movement in opposite directions:of -oneof the-devices to be coupled. Third, to provide-e device-as outlined which i-s-f.positively-operable and therebyself-cleaning through:relative --'movements: of the elements of the device Fou-rth, to provide acoupling between the respective--gangs of: a diskharrow by which the angular adjustment between the gangs can be altered at will by relative movementof the gangs.

Fifth, to provide a cou-plingas outlined which 7 will' maintain thegangsof a disk harrow in their the disks. Withmud, brushonstubble, the disks 40 may readilybecome clogged; requiring.- paralleling. of the gangs to clear the; disks, With thisain vention, suchedjustments and, paralleling are; carried, out as before explained,,'merely by slight. backward and forward driving ofjjthe tracton.

The conventional disk, harrow. .is adjusted; coupled andidecoupled' bymeansoi some. typeioi-q remote control which is 'manuallyoperablet such. as a cable, chain or rope, or by fluiclmeans, and. often the" coupling means becomes. fouled with! mud or. scrub so that it is necessary for the. operator to climb out of the tractor, clean. the-ecu. pling' or control mechanism. andlthen return, to. the tractor, manipulate; the tractor. and operates the; control mechanism... my. invention, the 5.5.

adjusted angular relation to follow a traction means whenzturnedi in the-direction of-the pivotal connectiombetweerrthegangs; and free the gangs for parallel -operationiwhen turned in the opposite direction ami'zreturnthe: gangs to their angular'relationt-whenthe traction means is again directed-straightaway.

Sixth,; tosprowdeiamautomatic coupler and de- Qoupler: whicheis-operativerfor coupling and uncouplimgr;v at; willk 'thnough relative movements of the? couplingsmeinbenst describing-f thief-invention reference will be made. to theaceompanylng. rawin n whi h:

Fight]... isga; tom.plan-..view= of: a1 Z-gang disk? harrowshowingmy invention applied thereto Fig.; 2-16: at sidez-eleyatiorrof; the, invention, and oorrespondeto a-.-sectiorr-takerr online 2-2 of Fig. 1..

3 is. an enlarged fragmentary side elevation at the invention as wyiewectin the: direction 1 indi- QatecL the: doub1e-arrow+3, 1?ig. L; showing the:

link-ling. its heelmand; ,movementgand; movingathe;

guard back to permit the link to drop into the hook for coupling.

Fig. 4 shows the link ready to drop into the hook for coupling, and illustrate the pivotal connection for the link pivot.

Fig. 5 shows the link in its forward movement and moving the guard into obstructing relation to close the hook against admission of the link.

Fig. 6 shows a modification specifically designed as an automatic coupler and decoupler for coupling a vehicle to a tractive device. 7

Fig. '7 is a section taken on line of Fig. 4.

The conventional multiple gang disk harrow consists of one or more pairs of gangs each of which has a frame l and I and a series of c0nvexo-concave disks equally spaced with the disks i2 of one gang facing in a direction opposite to those l3 of the other gang, staggered between the two gangs as is clearly illustrated.

These two gangs are pivoted-together near one end as indicated at M though this pivotal connection may readily be at any. point up to the center if the gangs are suitably spaced. The other ends of the gangs are connected together by some suitable adjusting means so that the angle I between the gangs can .be changed to suit soil and surface conditions, and for mere transfer and cleaning or elimination of obstructions are adjustable toa parallel position.

When adjusted in parallel, the disks merely cut relatively shallow grooves in the soil, while when adjusted to full angularity the leading edges of the disks cut straight ahead as indicated'at and ii, with the underside of the disks gradually lifting the soil and the "follow sides of the disks turning the soil out in opposite directions between the two gangs. 1

Most eiilcient breaking up of the soil occurs with maximum divergence of the gangs, but such operation is only suitableunder certain soil and surface conditions. With variations in moisture, inthe characteristics of the soil, in surface conditions, the degree of breaking desired, and mud, stubble or brush encountered,-itbecomes necessary to change the angularity at any time to suit the conditions, and in the case of brush or mud clogging, the gangs may have to be operated even in parallel. Furthermore, when the barrow is turned in a direction away from the pivotal connection between the gangs it is essential that the gangs return to parallel until straight-away travel is again in order, since if drawn about a curve away from the pivotal connection with the ganges angularly adjusted, the ground will be badly gouged and ridged.

To most efficiently and conveniently adjust the gangs at will the special automatic coupler, decoupler and adjuster i8 is used to connect the gangs and this device consists essentially of two engaging members one l9 of. which'is provided with movable guards-20 to prevent the companion engaging member 2| from engaging with the one member i9 when the members are moved in a separating direction, and to cause the companion engaging member to move the guards 29 to a position where it can engage when the members are relatively moved in a closing direction.

The member I9 though not so shown, can be formed to an arc with a center at the pivot i4, but such construction would require considerably heavier material to stand up under the tension between the lead and follow gangs, therefore the member I9 is pivoted to one gang as indicated at and with the disks 22, and the other member 2| has a pivotal mounting to the other gang.

The engageable member I9 is provided with a series of spaced recesses 23 to 21 each of which is provided with a guard 20 the upper end of which extends above the bar I9 and which is provided with a stop 28 to limit movement in both directions about the pivotal mounting 29 and with the respective faces and 3| being formed to an acute angle to form engaging faces and slideways.

The engaging member 2| in its simplest form, particularly when serving as a plain automatic coupling and decoupling device consists of a simconnection with a disk harrow the ple link with one end pivoted in an eye member as indicated at 32 in Fig. 6; however, for use in engageable and engaging members must be retained in suitable engaging posltions and therefore require a suitable guiding arrangement, and this is illustrated in one form as consisting of the pivotal connection 22 for one end of the engageable member, and a combined pivotal mounting for the engaging member, and guide for the engageable member.

The engageable member is illustrated as consisting of a U-shaped member having the ends 33 and 34 of the legs bent outward at right angles to form pivots and with these pivots swingably operating in the uprights 35 and 38 and with the uprights fixed to a base 31 which is pivotally secured on a vertical axis to the frame 38 as indicated at 39 and 40 and with a suitable passage 4| being provided for the engageable member, so that, as the gangs are adjusted or moved to increase or decrease the angularity between them, the pivoted mounting will compensate for the angular movement of the engageable member and keep the engaging member always in engaging relation and position, 7

The operation of the invention is as follows:

The lead gang42 is conventionally coupled to the tractor 43 through the adjustable draw rods 44 and 45.

The maximum angularity of the gangs is fixed by a stop member such as a bolt or pin 46 which is removably secured in one of the holes 41 which areequally spaced throughout the length of the member l9, so that thedivergence between the gangs may be limited to any desired degree from parallel to maximum to be used. This stop member cooperates with the forward side of the brackets 35 and 36 at maximum divergence. If the soil conditions change or mud is encountered or if the disks become clogged with weeds, stubble or brush, or for any other reason it should prove desirable to close the gangs, the tractor is merely backed up, backing up the front gang 42 while the follow gang remains stationary. The link moves each guard back as indicated in Fig. 3 and drops into the successive engaging recesses sequentially as indicated in Fig. 4 and rides out of each one and over the guard so long as backing is continued, in each case cooperating with the face 3| of the guard and moving it back out of the way. If the tractor is stopped when the link falls into one recess as indicated in Fig. 4 and not backed farther, the adjustment is completed and the tractor can move forward immediately with the gangs in that adjusted position.

If the angs are to be opened up, the tractor is backed up just enough to cause the link to ride out of the recess and over the top of the guard as indicated in Fig. 5; The tractor is then driven forward, the link pulling the guard forward to the position shown in Fig. 3 or 6 so that the recess is sealed against the link and when the link has moved far enough the tractor is stopped and then backed slightly just enough to move the guard out of the way and permit the link to drop into the recess.

Thus it is possible to carry out any degree or direction of adjustment between the gangs at any time without any control means other than forward and backing movements of the tractive means. Obviously the mechanism is self-cleaning since the link positively moves the guards to their respective positions and the link is made sufficiently heavy or suitably weighted as indicated at 48 to overcome the resistance of any mud or dirt which might restrict movement at the pivotal points 33 and 34.

If the tractor turns to the left viewing Fig. 1, the gangs will maintain their relative angularity and will follow the tractor around the curve, but if the tractor turns to the right the right hand end of gang 42 will slow up relative to the left hand end, the two gangs will be closed, with the link merely riding into the respective engaging recesses, out of them and over the guards, with the gangs following the tractor until the tractor is again directed on a straight course, at which time the right hand end of the lead gang will forge ahead, the link will pass over the guards, and the two gangs will be angularly separated to a degree as limited by the stop 46. If the angle is too great, as soon as the tractor completes its turn, it can be backed for the adjustment desired and then proceed on its course.

For plain coupling and decoupling, an incline 49 is formed on the end of the'engageable memher and a suitable stop 50 is provided for the link so that the link cannot fall below a cooperative position with the surface 49.

I claim:

1. Automatic coupling, decoupling and adjusting means for a gang disc harrow or the like comprising; a bar having a series of recesses formed from the top thereof and having one end connected to one gang of the harrow, and having a guard for each recess and movable to guarding and non-guarding positions; a link having connection to the other gang and having a crossmember engageable selectively in said recesses and cooperating with said guards sequentially for closing said recesses against entry of said cross-member when moved in one relative direction, and for opening said recesses sequentially for entry of the cross-member for coupling when moved in the other direction; said guards each comprising a member pivoted at the lower end to said bar and having a stop member for the upper end for cooperation with the top of the bar for two positions and with the guard projecting above the bar for cooperation with said cross-member, and forming a closure for the recess and a riding surface for the cross-member when in one position for decoupling.

2. Automatic coupling, decoupling, and adjusting means for gang-type harrows and the like comprising; a bar having one end pivotally connected to one gang and having a series of recesses formed from the top thereof defining engaging elements; a guard for each recess and pivotally mounted at its lower end to the lower portion of the bar and having the upper end projecting above the top of the bar and having angularly-related surfaces to function as actuating means and slideways, and having stop means for cooperation with the top of the bar, a link having a cross-member at one end for engagement in said engaging elements selectively and for cooperation With the guards to move the guards out of obstructive relation to the recesses sequentially for entry of the cross-member when moved in one relative direction from one side of the guard, and to move the guards into obstructive relation to the recesses sequentially to prevent entry of the cross-member and provide a slideway for the cross-member when the cross-member is moved in the other direction from the other side of the guards, and a pivotal mounting for the other end of said link and a pivotal connection between said pivotal mounting and the other gang; said pivotal mounting inlcluding guiding means for said bar to maintain alignment between said bar and said link.

3. A structure as defined in claim 2; and a removable stop member for said bar and cooperative with said pivotal mounting and adjustable selectively, at will, to a series of positions along said bar for limiting the maximum degree of anularity between the gangs.

FRED R. HAWKINS.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Fox et a1 Dec. 2, 1884 Number 

